By Felipe Melhado
During Valeo’s Tech Day in Troy, Michigan, I had the opportunity to sit down with Jeffrey Shay, Group President of Valeo North America, and Prashant Gulati, CEO of SDVerse, for an open discussion on how software is reshaping the automotive industry. The exchange revealed a shared vision for a more open, collaborative, and efficient path toward the software-defined vehicle (SDV).
Jeffrey Shay it Valeo’s Group President for North America. He is guiding the company’s operations, strategic growth, and innovation in the United States and Mexico. He joined Valeo’s Executive Committee and now helps shape the firm’s direction across its key mobility platforms, including electrification, ADAS, interior experience and lighting.
Prashant Gulati is SDVerse’s Chief Executive Officer, the automotive-software marketplace founded by industry leaders such as General Motors, Magna International, and Wipro Ltd.. Appointed in March 2024, Gulati brings more than two decades of experience in mobility, software development and strategic growth, previously holding senior roles in electric-vehicle startup environments and global technology ventures.
Shay began by describing how automakers are moving from distributed “black-box” electronic modules toward centralized computing architectures capable of over-the-air updates and feature upgrades after vehicle sale. “In the past, every system was closed,” Shay explained. “Now the goal is to create a flexible platform where data from sensors and devices flows into a central compute hub, just like updating an app on your phone.”
Gulati introduced SDVerse as the industry’s first business-to-business marketplace for automotive software, founded with support from GM, Valeo, Magna, and others. The platform allows OEMs and Tier-1s to discover, compare, and source software solutions across categories such as ADAS, electrification, and vehicle connectivity. “No company can do everything alone,” he said. “Collaboration accelerates innovation. What once took six months to source can now be done in six hours.”
The two leaders emphasized that cybersecurity and integration remain critical. Software discovered through SDVerse is not downloaded directly but integrated under strict validation with each vehicle’s architecture. Gulati described the initiative as “a Tinder for automotive software, helping the right developers and manufacturers connect securely and efficiently.”
Both agreed that one of the biggest challenges is speed and collaboration. Shay mentioned politics have lately distracted the industry from advancing technology that improves safety, sustainability and user experience. “If we keep focus on the technology,” he said, “we make the world safer and more efficient.”
Together, Valeo and SDVerse showcased how openness, shared standards, and smart sourcing could redefine how software enters the vehicle, transforming the industry from isolated systems into a truly connected ecosystem.
From cameras and radar to smart software and connectivity, Valeo’s approach shows how ADAS is evolving from standalone components into an intelligent, networked ecosystem, one capable of sensing, deciding, and acting with reliability across every driving scenario.
